Piston



June 2, 1925.

M. 6. WHITE PISTON Filed May 22,, 1922 Hlllll Jfine 2, 1925.-

M. C. WHITE PISTON F iled'May 22, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 'city and county of Patented June. 2, 1925.

1,540,443 UN TED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MORRIS C. WHITE, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALiFDRIhTIA.

PISTON.

Application filed May 22,

' internal combustion motors and the like.

Another object is to provide an improved piston ring mountable upon a piston to prevent leakage therepast. V

A further object is to provide an improved piston ring adapted to be expanded by pressure Within a cylinder to conform to the walls of same.

A further object is to provide a piston affording improved means forapplying piston rings thereon to prevent distortion of the rings, and to facilitate replacement by new rings' to compensate for wear upon either the rings or the cylinder;

Another object is to provide an improved piston of extremely light construction which will afford the necessary strength, and which will facilitate effective lubrication of the piston within the cylinder.

A still further object is to provide an im-. proved construction and arrangement of rings upon a piston whereby the expandible at right angles to character and the low coeliicient of friction of certain alloyed metals may be utilized for increasing the efficiency of a motor.

accomplish these and other objects by meansof the vdevice disclosed in the drawings forming a part of the present specification and drawings wherein like characters of reference are used to designate similar parts throughout said specification and drawings, and in which:

ig. 1 is a View of my improved piston, one-half being shown in elevation and the other half in section.

Fig. 2 is a section takenupon the line 2'-2 of Fig. 1 in the direction indicated.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 as viewed said Fig. 1. 1g. 4 1s a section taken 4-4 of Fig. 3

Referring to the drawings the numeral 1 is upon the line -ually threaded as at 1922. Serial No. 562,688..

used to designate in general the body portion of a piston the head end of which is inter- 2 to receive a threaded extension 3 of a piston head 4. The headis shouldered to form an annular groove 6=with the piston 1 arranged to receive a split piston ring-7 such as is commonly used upon the pistons of internal combustion engines,

ameter than the outside diameter at and body 1.

A piston ring 8 formed preferably from Kelly metal is shaped as a continuous cup shaped ring having an inwardly projecting flange portion arranged to be firmly secure between the head l and the body 1 when the threaded extension 3 of the head is screwed onto the body as shown in the sectional portions of Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawings. outer rim portion of the ring 8 is disposer around the outer edge of the head 4, the

.ring 7 being thereby enclosed Within the notch 6. When the piston l is mounted within'a cylinder, not shown in the drawings, the continuous ring 8 is normally held slightly away from the head i and against the walls of the cylinder y the expansion of the split ring 7.

e continuous ring 8 is mentioned, from Kelly metal which is a trade name for an alloy of copper, lead and graphite alloyed in the approximate pro portion of 80 parts copper, 17 parts lead and 3 parts graphite. This alloy is ofa highly ductile character having a very low The ductile propercoefiicient of friction. ties of the metals permit the outer rim of which is made of a relatively formed, as above the ring 8, slight thickness, to be readily flexed outwardly against the wall of the cylinder as the internal pressure of the cylinder enters the head 4:, said rim being normally expanded slightly away from the head by the pressure of the split ring 7. In this manner the ring 8 is firml pressed against the cylinder wall with'a force increasing in proportion to the ressure within the cylinder. The duct-ilit of the metal causes the ring to readily con orm to the cylinders in this manner compeneating for any irregularity in the cylinder wearing surtcce of the cylinder.

chief ob ections to the pistons of typ comopen construction affording extreme lightmess the lower portion of the body consisting of a plurality of legs 11 having rim se ments 12 formed at the lower ends thereof. Reinforcing webs 13 are formed upon the inner sides of the legs 11 to give strength and rigidity to the body. The run segments 12 of adjacent legs 11 are slightly spaced. and are provided with grooves 14 and us upon the outer and inner sides respectively. inwardly disposed lugs 17 :t'ormed upon opposite sides of the body 1. are bored to receive the usual wrist pins, not shown, in the customary manner.

The spaced rim segments 12 permit the rearward portion of the piston 1 to be contracted to receive a piston ring 18 within the outer groove 14, the legs 11 and segments 12 being pressed inwardly to permit the ring 18 to be applied thereover without undue distortion of the ring'such as is often the cause of ill-fitting rings as applied upon pistons of the type now in common use.

The ring 18 is preferably made of Kelly metalas above described, to reduce friction against the cylinder wall and to insure conformity between the ring and the wall. The

ring 18 m..y be made of continuous character if desired; however, as said ring serves only as a wearing shoe to guide and n'iaintain the piston in correct relation to the cylinder wall, a split ring such as illustrated in the drawings may be used \vitl'i equal etlicicncy.

A split ring 19 is mounted within the inner groove 16 to maintain the segments 12 expanded against the outer ring 18.

The body 1 is made of a diameter sub stantially less than the diameter of the cylinder bore, a clearanc of from 1/32 to 3/64 being preferable in practice. -This feature is of particularimportance because oi the fact that only the rings 8 and 18 are has permitted to engage the cylinder and because ofthe further fact that the clearance between the body-and the cylinder bore, combined with the open structure of the piston permits oi to be distributed oyer the entire One of the m'only used is that the long solid skirt must order to maintain compression be carefully machined to form a neat runningfit within the cylinder. which fact combined with the common arrangement of rings materially reduces the effectiveness of memencation with the result that excessive wear occurs. This fact is chiefly responsible for cylinder scoring and piston slap with their result-ant motor troubles and loss. in ellic1ency, My improved piston permits oil to pass between the legs 11 onto the cylinder walls and by virtue of the sul'istantialclearancc allowed, to be evenly distributed between the body of the piston and he cylindcr. This insures perfect lubricatI'iu and this, combined with the antitric'rional properties oi the rings above 'lltSCl'llfltl reduces wear to a minimum and practically eliminates all danger oi? scoring. The piston slap cll'cctually prevented, by the cxpamflible there will he no necessity for discarding the pistons in event the wear upon the cylinder should become so great. after long usage as to require reboring, a substitution of oversize rings being sullicieiit to restore the effectiveness of the original piston.

The head 4 is provided with recesses 21 adapted for engagement with a suitable spanner wrench for applying and removing the head from the fora 'ard end of the body 1. After the head has been initially assembled upon the body 1 and tightened "against the flange of the ring 8, the head is bored and tapped to receive a screw 22 extending into the body 1 as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, in this manner rigidly holding the parts in assembled relation.

From the above description it will readily be seen that l haveprovided an improved piston of a strong, light construction wherein a single continuous piston ring eiiectually prevents leakage between the pist n and the walls of a cylinder. As the reduction in compression due to leakage past the pistons causes one of the greatest losses in etiiciency in internal combustion engines, it is obvious that the perfect scaling cll'ect obtainable by the improved ring above described will result in a material grain in efficiency, the lightness of the construction,and the reduction in friction against the cylimler walls due to increased lubrication and. the low coetlicient of friction of the material used in, making the rings. further adding to theefiective gain in e'liiciencyf While 1 have disclosed the preferred coustruction of the device and specified the ring material now deemed most suited to the requirements named, it is obvious that both may be modified in many ways Without departing from the spirit of my invention. )1,

therefore, do not restrict myself to the precise (llStflOSlllG Il'ltlClG, but wish. to avail myself of all modifications and substitutions such as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what secure by Letyou threads of the body portion, said head being shouldered adjacent the body to form a groove; a split ring mounted within the groove; and aocontinuous ringxof ductile meta-l rigidly secured between'the' head and the body, said ring being providedhvith an outwardly extending portion shaped to enclose the split ring and to be expanded thereby slightly away from the side of the head to permit internal pressure within the cylinder to enter between the head and the outwardly extending ring portion to expand the same against the wall of a cylinder to prevent leakage past the piston.

2. A piston comprising an open body portion the lower portion of which is formed from a plurality of legs spaced from each other and from the walls of a cylinder to admit oil t-herebetween; a head detachably secured uponsaid body portion; and a con tinuous ring of ductile meta-l secured between the head and the body portion, said ring being provided with an outer rim portion adapted to be expanded against the wall of a cylinder by pressure within said cylinder.

3. A piston comprising a body the lower portion of .which is contractible; a ring mounted around said contractible portion; and asplit ring mounted within said con tractible portion to maintain the same expanded against the outer ring.

4. A piston comprising; an open body portion, the lower portion of which is formed into a plurality of legs the ends of which are provided with segments forming a contractibl'e rim; a ring mounted around said rim to engage the wall. of a cylinder; and a ring mounted within said rim to maintain the legs and segments expanded against the outer ring.

A piston comprising an open body portion, the lower portion of which is formed into a plurality of legs the ends of which are provided with segments forming a contract-ible rim; a ring mounted around said rim to engage the wall of a cylinder; a ring mounted within said rim to maintain the legs and segments expanded against the outer ring; a continuous ring of ductile metal; and means for securing said ring upon the forward end of the body portion to engage the wall of the cylinder to prevent leakage past the piston.

6. A piston comprising a body the lower portion of which is an open structure consisting of a plurality of legs arranged to admit oil to the wall of a cylinder; a compression ringsecured upon the head of, the/piston; and a guide ring secured upon the 5 .pression ring rigidly secured between the head and the body and extending outward- 1y therefrom to engage the wall of a cylinder; and a guide ring mounted upon the lower ends or the legs to engage the wall of the cylinder and guide the piston therein.

8. It niston comprising a bodv the lower portion of which is a contractible open structure consisting of a plurality of legs spaced from each other and from the wall of a cylinder, said body being internally threaded at the head end thereof; a head having a threaded extension adapted to engage the threads of the body: a continuous ring of ductile metal clamped between said head and the body, said ring extending outwardly into engagement with the wall of the cylinder; and a guide ring mounted upon the legs a) guide the piston within the cylinder and prevent contact of the piston body with the cylinder wall.

nature.

MORRIS C. WHITE. 

